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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23303095">Follow Your Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/beefy/pseuds/beefy'>beefy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sex Education (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Boys Kissing, Falling In Love, First Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, so soft, soft adam</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:02:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23303095</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/beefy/pseuds/beefy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Soft Adam is in love,, just wants to cuddle haha how cute</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eric Effiong/Adam Groff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>109</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Follow Your Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eric lay in bed, his thought racing even as his body relaxed into the soft warmth. His day had been exhausting, physically and emotionally, and sleep called at him despite his restless thoughts. Adam liked him. They were dating! </p><p>But Rahim, poor Rahim. Eric had never treated someone's feelings so carelessly, had never been so selfish before. He didn’t regret it but he couldn’t help but feel bad. And yet there was more. Rahim’s words tugged at his heart, making his stomach churn. “He can hold your hand, but I am not sure that he can catch you”. Catch him, what did he mean? And the look on his face was heartbreaking, full of so much sorrow and betrayal. </p><p>And yet even as Eric felt guilt and remorse, Adam’s face lingered in his mind and he swore quietly to himself that he would never hurt Adam the way he hurt Rahim, and he finally drifted off.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
Adam massaged his cheekbones, where the muscles in his face were tight and sore. He had smiled more that day then he had in as long as he could remember, and he could feel it. He recognized that things weren’t perfect, he wasn’t blind. He saw the look on Eric’s face when he came back from talking to Rahim. But Adam couldn’t bring himself to care about any of that.</p><p>He had done it. He conquered his fears, he showed Eric how he felt. They were dating!</p><p>His smiling began when Eric’s family surrounded him, proud of him like his father never was. When Eric returned, Adam took his hand with pride. As Eric walked him home, they hardly spoke, both sneaking glances at each other with grins ear to ear. Eric’s teeth shone in the streetlights, and Adam’s heart swelled with every passing moment. It was the happiest he had ever felt.</p><p>Outside his door the pair stood for a moment staring at each other with the same absurd smiles stretched across their faces. Adam though back to the time they kissed, soft and slow in that same place, but he didn’t feel those same forbidden desires. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Eric’s lithe frame. Eric tucked his head under Adam’s and they stood there in a quiet embrace for what felt like hours.</p><p>As Adam lay in bed, he let his mind drift to the peaceful feeling of holding Eric. The weight of his body, pressed against Adam’s chest. The feel of his hair on Adam’s cheek as his head rested on top of Eric’s. The warmth of Eric’s body and the warmth in his heart. The sweet release of sleep, a smile still on his face.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
Eric glanced over at his boyfriend, sitting next to him on the couch. It was the first time they had been alone since the night of the musical, and Eric was waiting for Adam to make a move. Eric had been waiting a long time for this moment, since they had detention together, maybe even before then. And yet, when Adam finally slid over to Eric, pressing their bodies against each other, the look in his eyes stopped Eric short.</p><p>He knew what lust looked like, especially on Adam. After their detention experience, he finally understood why his bullying experiences with Adam had always confused him. What Adam disguised as anger and hatred had turned out to be desire. Eric was very familiar with the look of lust. But this was something different, something softer. Adam stared deep into his eyes and began to smile.</p><p>He wrapped his arm around Eric’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to his temple. He stroked his thumb over Eric’s collarbone, over and over again, light as a feather. Eric’s heart fluttered. Where was this gentleness coming from? He knew Adam was kinder than he appeared, but this was something entirely new. He looked up and met Adam’s eyes, and again felt something stir in his chest. Eric began to smile, and he reached over and wrapped his arms around Adam.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
When Adam was with Aimee, everything was about sex. They spent all the time they could fucking, and when they couldn’t, they didn’t do much of anything. Sure they talked to each other, or at least Aimee talked to him, but their primary goal as a couple was to have lots and lots of sex.</p><p>This thing with Eric was different. Something changed in Adam when he made the choice to tell Eric how he felt. His mum had told him that you need to tell the people that you love how you feel about them. He didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s when he knew. He loves Eric. He has for a long time. Of course he didn’t dare tell Eric that, but he knew it was true.</p><p>And there on the couch, that's all Adam could think about. He knew Eric was expecting something else. A passionate makeout sesh, maybe another blowjob to rival their detention fling. But Adam didn’t care. He didn’t care about any of that. He was following his heart, and all his heart seemed to want was to sit there and hold onto his boyfriend.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
“It’s not as if we don’t do anything at all”, Eric mumbled, staring down at the floor awkwardly. “We talk, we hug, we even kiss! But nothing more. I mean, it’s been a month. A month! I never in my whole life dreamed that I’d date anyone for a month and still be a virgin!” Otis watched as his friend grew more animated as he spoke, in true Eric fashion. “He sucked my dick inside the fucking school for gods sake, but now that we’re finally together, he hasn’t made a move. I can’t figure it out man!”. “Well, are you happy?” asked Otis, careful to minimize the use of his ‘therapist voice’. Eric stopped to think for a moment. “Yea.. I am. I really am”. </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
After another week of soft cuddles and gentle kisses, Eric decided to ask. “Adam, why haven’t we done anything more than kiss, like anything sexual. We’ve been dating for more than a month now, you know?” Adam looked down at him with that same look in his eyes, the warm one, the new one. “Is that a problem?” he asked coyly. “Well no, but I don’t understand man. You sucked my dick weeks before we got together. Now you don’t want to?” Eric replied.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
Adam sat for a minute and thought. He had never been great with words, and he wasn’t sure how to tell Eric how he felt. Adam had waited this long to be honest for fear of scaring him off, but in the back of his head he knew that on that first whirlwind of a day, he made a choice. His mom taught him the importance of telling the people that you love how you feel, and he followed his gut and did just that. He knew eventually he would need to go all the way, to tell Eric everything, his feelings far beyond wanting to hold Eric’s hand. Maybe it was time.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
Eric stared at Adam as he looked down at his hands. He looked deep in thought, and a little nervous. Suddenly, Adam reached out to grab Eric’s hand, and spoke softly. “When I was with Aimee, all we did was have sex. At the time I thought that was normal, and maybe it is. But now I know that I didn’t really care about Aimee. I suppose I liked her, but,”. He faltered, but Eric squeezed his hand. Adam looked up at him, his eyes glimmering.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Eric asked, stroking the back of his hand with his thumb.</p><p>“I love you, Eric. I’ve loved you for a long time. I thought I knew what I was doing, what I wanted, but you changed everything.” Eric was frozen as he watched the tears start to fall. “It’s not that I don’t want to fuck you its just that every time I’m with you, I am full of love for you and that’s all I can think about. The day of the musical I made the decision to follow my heart and when I’m with you, my heart tells me to hold you close, to care for you, to hug you and cuddle and treat you like a king.”</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
Eric’s hand was limp in his. All of his confidence spent, Adam felt the weight of his vulnerability. His heart ached for the boy whose hand he held, and he couldn’t help the tears as he thought about how much Eric meant to him. He wasn’t ever like this, he wasn’t sure what to do. He looked up at Eric once more, tears dripping down his face, his heart open to the one he loved.</p><p>“You love me?” Eric asked finally.</p><p>Adam chuckled through his tears and reached up to wipe off his face. “I love you.” He replied. “I’ve loved you for longer than I’d dare admit to myself.”</p><p>Adam watched him carefully as Eric processed his confession, and so he saw the moment it hit him, watched his face soften, then crumple with tears. He opened his arms to Eric as he collapsed onto Adam’s chest, and stroked his hair as Eric squeezed his torso. He waited a   moment, and then another, before planting a kiss on top of Eric’s head and asking softly “Are you okay?”</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>
“I love you too” Eric whispered. And they held each other like they had many times before, only this time teary and in love.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>first fic ever yeesh how'd i do<br/>you may be tempted to say this is ooc for adam, but id argue its just out of character for the show. obviously they gotta have sex in a show called sex education but damn nobody ever just cuddles,, so i had to write it<br/>hope you enjoyed and feedback is appreciated :))</p></blockquote></div></div>
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